U.S. patent number 8,151,782 [Application Number 12/704,378] was granted by the patent office on 2012-04-10 for baseball batting practice equipment.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Hern Juie Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Ching-Shu Huang.
United States Patent |
8,151,782 |
Huang |
April 10, 2012 |
Baseball batting practice equipment
Abstract
A baseball batting practice equipment includes a base provided
with a movable member controlled to operate by the retaining post
of a ball pitching speed adjustment device that is disposed with
bevel gears and an actuating member for regulating the speed of
ball pitching. An elastic member has opposite sides respectively
secured with the movable member and the base for assisting the
movable member to recover its original position. The base is
further provided with a hooking member for holding an elastic plate
and, after the movable member touches the hooking member, releasing
the elastic plate for pitching balls. A ball pitching apparatus is
provided with an elastic member for adjusting and delaying time of
ball pitching, a gear unit and an actuating rod for winding tight
or unwinding loose the elastic member. A power unit with a pedal is
to carry out pitching balls.
Inventors: |
Huang; Ching-Shu (Tainan,
TW) |
Assignee: |
Hern Juie Co., Ltd. (Tainan,
TW)
|
Family
ID: |
44352685 |
Appl.
No.: |
12/704,378 |
Filed: |
February 11, 2010 |
Prior Publication Data
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|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20110192384 A1 |
Aug 11, 2011 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
124/16;
124/36 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
69/40 (20130101); A63B 2069/401 (20130101); A63B
69/407 (20130101); A63B 47/002 (20130101); A63B
2210/50 (20130101); A63B 2047/004 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F41B
7/00 (20060101); F41B 3/03 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;124/16,33,34,36,37 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Ricci; John
Attorney, Agent or Firm: J.C. Patents
Claims
I claim:
1. A baseball batting practice equipment comprising: a base
provided with a movable member having a lower side fixed with one
end of an elastic member whose another end secured with said base,
said elastic member helping said movable member to recover its
original position, said movable member controlled to operate by a
retaining post of a ball pitching speed adjusting device, said base
provided with a hooking member for holding an elastic plate, said
elastic plate released to pitch balls after said movable member
touches said hooking member; a ball pitching apparatus consisting
of a left shell and a right shell for accommodating all members of
said ball pitching apparatus, said ball pitching apparatus disposed
with a spring-shaped elastic member functioning to adjust and delay
time of ball pitching, said ball pitching apparatus set with a gear
unit composed of a plurality of gears engaged mutually, said
spring-shaped elastic member actuated to be wound tight or unwound
loose by mutual operation of said gear unit together with a rack
and an actuating rod, said ball pitching apparatus having a ball
pitching speed adjusting device provided with a first bevel gear
and a second bevel gear engaged with each other, said second bevel
gear positioned in the interior of an actuating member, said
actuating member formed with a protruding-out portion and a
circular portion, a driving rod positioned under said actuating
member and a retaining post fixed with one side of said driving
rod, said retaining post having a topside assembled with an elastic
member and having one side cut with a notch for said driving rod to
be extended therein, said ball pitching apparatus disposed with a
power unit with an actuating rod, said actuating rod inserted
through one end of two connecting rods and a slot of an upper cover
and through a hole of said rack, said connecting rods of said power
unit having another end pivotally assembled with a shaft rod of a
pedal of said power unit, and a press rod inserted through said
pedal, said power unit provided with said elastic plate to be
operated together with said hooking member for pitching balls; and
an upper cover having a topside bored with a ball pitching hole for
placing practice balls therein.
2. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said base has a lower side provided with long grooves for
receiving extensible plates.
3. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said movable member is formed with an actuating base bored
with a retaining groove to be operated with said retaining post of
said ball pitching apparatus for positioning said movable member,
said movable member formed with a push surface to be operated
together with said hooking member, said movable member having a
lower side bored with a receiving slot for fixing one end of an
elastic member.
4. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 3,
wherein said movable member has one side disposed with arcuate
recesses for said driving rod to operate therein.
5. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 3,
wherein said push surface of said movable member is sloped for
matching said hooking member to operate together.
6. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said hooking member is provided with a holding surface to
be operated with said elastic plate of said ball pitching apparatus
and formed with a push surface to be correspondingly operated
together with said push surface of said movable member, two fixing
bases respectively set at two opposite sides of said hooking member
and a pivot inserted between said hooking member and said two
fixing bases.
7. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 6,
wherein said two fixing bases respectively have a rear side set
with a stop block for restricting turning over angles of said
hooking member.
8. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said left shell of said ball pitching apparatus is bored
with an opening for receiving said spring-shaped elastic member and
a side cover is covered on said opening and secured with two bolt
seats of said left shell.
9. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said gear unit is provided with a first gear having a shaft
for fixing another end of said spring-shaped elastic member.
10. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said first gear of said gear unit is disposed with a groove
for securing said first bevel gear of said ball pitching speed
adjusting device.
11. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said gear unit is provided with a second gear having a
pinion gear engaged with said first gear, said gear unit having a
third gear with a pinion gear engaged with said second gear, said
gear unit disposed with a fourth gear having a pinion gear engaged
with said third gear, said gear unit provided with a slow-acting
block having projections to be pushed by teeth of said fourth
gear.
12. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 11,
wherein said fourth gear of said gear unit is formed with only a
few teeth set apart.
13. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said first bevel gear of said ball pitching speed adjusting
device is formed with a groove communicating with said groove of
said first gear for receiving an elastic member therein to adjust
mutually engaging tightness of said first bevel gear and said
second bevel gear.
14. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said actuating member of said ball pitching speed adjusting
device is bored with a shaft hole for receiving a long shaft, which
is inverted T-shaped to be fixed with a regulating wheel.
15. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said retaining post of said ball pitching speed adjusting
device is positioned in an upright groove of said right shell.
16. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said ball pitching apparatus is assembled between two
shanks at a rear side of said pedal of said power unit and received
in said upper cover.
17. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said shanks of said pedal are disposed therebetween with a
pivot having plural torsional elastic members mounted thereon, said
pivot inserted through holes of said two shanks and two holes of
said upper cover and through two holes of said ball pitching
apparatus.
18. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said elastic plate of said ball pitching apparatus has one
end fixed at an upper side of a foundation base and a regulating
block, and a long bolt is screwed between said foundation base and
said regulating block for changing positions of said regulating
block.
19. A baseball batting practice equipment comprising: a base
provided with a movable member, an elastic member having one end
fixed at a lower side of said movable member and another end
secured with said base, said elastic member assisting said movable
member to recover an original position, said movable member
controlled to operate by a retaining post of a ball pitching speed
adjusting device, said base disposed with a hooking member for
holding an elastic plate and releasing said elastic plate to pitch
balls when said movable member touches said hooking member; a ball
pitching apparatus provided with a left shell and a right shell for
accommodating all members of said ball pitching apparatus, said
ball pitching apparatus installed with a spring-shaped elastic
member for adjusting and delaying time of ball pitching, said ball
pitching apparatus disposed with a gear unit composed of a
plurality of gears engaged mutually, said spring-shaped elastic
member actuated to be wound tight or unwound loose by mutual
operation of said gear unit together with a rack and an actuating
rod, said ball pitching apparatus provided with a ball pitching
speed adjusting device having a first bevel gear and a second bevel
gear engaged with each other, said second bevel gear assembled
inside said actuating member, said actuating member formed with a
protruding-out portion and a circular portion, a driving rod
positioned under said actuating member and having one end fixed
with a retaining post, an elastic member mounted at topside of said
retaining post that is cut with a notch for one end of said driving
rod to be extended therein, said ball pitching apparatus having a
power unit provided with an actuating rod to be inserted through
two connecting rods and a slot of an upper cover and also through
an insert hole of a rack, said power unit disposed with said
connecting rods respectively having one end pivotally assembled
with a shaft rod of a pedal of said power unit, a press rod
inserted through said pedal, said power unit provided with said
elastic plate controlled by said hooking member to carry out ball
pitching; an upper cover having a topside bored with a ball
pitching hole for depositing practice balls; and a ball supply
device consisting of a ball placing-conveying chute having an end
provided with a stop member, said stop member formed with an upper
end, a lower end and an inner end.
20. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 19,
wherein said ball placing-conveying chute is inward-recessing and
arcuate-shaped and disposed with a plurality of holes for lowering
downward-sliding speed of said practice balls.
21. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 19,
wherein said stop member is Y-shaped.
22. A baseball batting practice equipment as claimed in claim 19,
wherein said ball placing-conveying chute is composed of a first
member and a second member, said first member having one end formed
with a combination member to be combined together with a
combination recess of said second member, said first member bored
with a shaft hole matching with a shaft hole of a standing holder
for pivots to be inserted therein.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a baseball batting practice equipment,
particularly to one able to automatically pitch balls for a batter
to practice batting anytime according to time set for ball pitching
after the batter stands firm at a batting position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, a baseball batting practice apparatus, as disclosed in
a Taiwan patent, No. 574935, titled "BASEBALL PITCHING APPARATUS",
is to have an elastic plate actuated by an elastic member to turn
up elastically and pitch balls and is provided with a delay unit
for delaying pitching balls. However, since the ball pitching
position is unchangeable; therefore, it is inconvenient for batters
with different heights to practice batting baseballs.
Another baseball batting practice apparatus, as disclosed in a U.S.
Pat. No. 1,912,360, is to employ an elastic plate for supplying and
pitching practice balls without providing any delay unit for
lowering velocity of ball pitching and as a result, the batting
practice apparatus may pitch balls even before a batter stands firm
at a batting position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The objective of this invention is to offer a baseball batting
practice equipment by which a batter can freely self-practice
batting balls anytime, needless to have another person pitching
balls.
The baseball batting practice equipment of this invention includes
a base provided with a movable member having a lower side fixed
with one end of an elastic member that has another end secured with
the base. The elastic member functions to help the movable member
to recover its original position to let the movable member
controlled to operate by a retaining post of a ball pitching speed
adjusting device. The base is disposed with a hooking member for
holding an elastic plate and releasing the elastic plate for
pitching balls after the movable member touches the hooking
member.
The baseball batting practice equipment of this invention is
provided with a ball pitching apparatus, a spring-shaped elastic
member and a gear unit. The ball pitching apparatus consists of a
left shell and a right shell for accommodating all the members of
the ball pitching apparatus. The spring-shaped elastic member
functions to adjust and delay time of ball pitching. The gear unit
is composed of a plurality of gears engaged mutually for winding
tight or unwinding the spring-shaped elastic member by mutual
operation of a rack and an actuating rod.
The ball pitching apparatus of the baseball batting practice
equipment in the present invention is disposed with a ball pitching
speed adjusting device containing a first bevel gear and a second
bevel gear engaged with each other. The second bevel gear is
positioned in the interior of an actuating member that is formed
with a protruding-out portion and a circular portion. A driving rod
is assembled under the actuating member and has one end fixed with
a retaining post. An elastic member is mounted at the topside of
the retaining post that has one side cut with a notch for the
driving rod to be extended therein.
The ball pitching apparatus of the baseball batting practice
equipment of this invention has a power unit provided with an
actuating rod to be inserted through one end of two connecting rods
and the elongate hole of an upper cover and also through the insert
hole of the rack. The connecting rods of the power unit have
another end pivotally fixed with the shaft rods of a pedal, and a
press rod is inserted through the pedal. The power unit is further
provided with an elastic plate to be operated together with the
hooking member for pitching balls.
The baseball batting practice equipment of this invention further
includes an upper cover disposed with a ball pitching hole for
depositing practice balls therein.
Thus, the baseball batting practice equipment in the present
invention can automatically pitch balls for a batter to practice
batting freely.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
This invention will be better understood by referring to the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a baseball batting
practice equipment in the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an upper view of the baseball batting practice equipment
in the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the line A-A in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a ball pitching apparatus
in the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the baseball batting practice
equipment in a preparatory condition in the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the baseball batting practice
equipment getting ready to pitch balls in the present
invention;
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the baseball batting practice
equipment in a ball pitching condition in the present
invention;
FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a ball supplying device
in the present invention;
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the baseball batting practice
equipment and the ball supplying device combined together in the
present invention;
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the baseball batting practice
equipment and the ball supplying device combined together in the
present invention;
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the ball supplying device
supplying a baseball for the batting practice equipment in the
present invention; and
FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view of the ball supplying
device supplying a baseball for the batting practice equipment in
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A preferred embodiment of a baseball batting practice equipment in
the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a base
1, a ball pitching apparatus 2, a ball pitching speed adjusting
device 3, a power unit 4 and an upper cover 5 as main components
combined together.
The base 1 has its lower side provided with one or more long
grooves 10 for receiving same-number extensible plates 11, which
can be pulled outward to be fixed on the ground for stabilizing the
batting practice equipment on the ground. The base 1 has its upper
side disposed with a plurality of different grooves 12, 13
respectively for installing a movable member 14 and a ball pitching
apparatus 2 therein. The movable member 14 has its rear side formed
with a protruding-up actuating base 140 having one side provided
with a plurality of arcuate recesses 141 for an actuating rod 50 to
operate therein and shift the movable member 14. In addition, the
movable member 14 is provided with a fitting groove 142 for placing
therein a retaining post 35 of the ball pitching apparatus 2 so
that the retaining post 35 may fix the movable member 14 at a
proper position, further having its front side formed with a
slanting push surface 143 to be correspondingly operated with a
hooking member 16 and its lower side bored with an accommodating
groove 144. The base 1 is further provided with an elastic member
15 having one end fixed in the accommodating groove 144 of the
moveable member 14 and another end secured at a proper location of
the base 1, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, for helping the movable
member 14 to recover its original position. The hooking member 16
of the base 1 is provided with a retaining surface 160 for holding
an elastic plate 54 of the ball pitching apparatus 2 and formed
with a push surface 161 to match with the push surface 143 of the
movable member 14 for operating mutually. When the movable member
14 is drawn back by the elastic member 15 and has its push surface
143 touching the push surface 161 of the hooking member 16, the
hooking member 16 will be turned over to let go of the elastic
plate 54 of ball pitching apparatus 2 to enable the elastic plate
54 to pitch balls, as shown in FIG. 9. Moreover, the hooking member
16 has its opposite sides respectively disposed with a fixing base
162, with a pivot 164 inserted through the hooking member 16 and
the two fixing bases 162 to enable the hooking member 16 to turn
over, and each fixing base 162 has its rear side formed with a stop
block 163 for restricting the angles of turning over of the hooking
member 16.
The ball pitching apparatus 2, as shown in FIGS. 3-6, is provided
with a left shell 20 and a right shell 21 combined together for
accommodating all the members of the ball pitching apparatus 2. The
left shell 20 is bored with an opening 200 for receiving a
spring-shaped elastic member 22 and provided with two bolt seats
201 at the opposite outer sides of the opening 200 for a side cover
220 to be threadably fixed thereon by bolts 221 and thus, one end
of the spring-shaped elastic member 22 can be fixed by the inner
side of the side cover 220, as shown in FIG. 3.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the ball pitching apparatus 2 is
disposed with a gear unit consisting of a first gear 23, a second
gear 24, a third gear 25 and a fourth gear 26, which are engaged
with one another mutually. The first gear 23 has one side provided
with a shaft 230 for fixing another end of the spring-shaped
elastic member 22, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. Thus, the
spring-shaped elastic member 22 can be driven by the gear unit to
be wound tight or unwound loose. The first gear 23 has another side
bored with a groove 231 for fixing a first bevel gear 30 of the
ball pitching speed adjusting device 3, with the first bevel gear
30 serving as a fulcrum of the first gear 23, and further has its
underside engaged with a rack 232 that is bored with an insert hole
233 for an actuating rod 50 to be inserted therein. The second gear
24 is pivotally assembled on a second shaft 211 of the right shell
21, provided with a pinion gear 240 engaged with the first gear 23.
The third gear 25 is pivotally mounted on a third shaft 212 of the
right shell 21, having a pinion gear 250 engaged with the second
gear 24, and the fourth gear 26 is pivotally fitted on a fourth
shaft 213 of the right shell 21, disposed with a pinion gear 260
engaged with the third gear 25 and formed with only a few teeth set
apart for actuating a slow-acting block 27 to turn to one side. The
slow-acting block 27 is pivotally assembled on a fifth shaft 214 of
the right shell 21, having an upper and a lower inner side
respectively formed with a projection 270 to be moved by the teeth
of the fourth gear 26 so as to produce some little resistance to
achieve effect analogous to buffer. By so designing, when the
spring-shaped elastic member 22 is actuated to release torsion, the
gear unit can function like a gear shift box to avoid releasing
torsion too fast so that a baseball batter may have enough time for
adjusting batting postures and positions.
The ball pitching speed adjusting device 3 is provided with the
first bevel gear 30 and a second bevel gear 31 engaged with each
other. The first bevel gear 30 is bored with a groove 300
communicating with the groove 231 of the first gear 23 for
receiving an elastic member 301, which functions to adjust both the
engaging tightness of the first bevel gear 30 and the second gear
31 and the reverse-turning speed of the gear unit, as shown in FIG.
3. The second bevel gear 31 is disposed in the interior with an
actuating member 32 to be operated together with the actuating
member 32. The actuating member 32 has one side bored with a shaft
hole 320 for a long pivot 321 to be inserted therethrough. The long
pivot 321 inverted-T shaped is inserted into the shaft hole 320
from an inner side and extended out of both the right shell 21 and
the upper cover 4 and then secured with a regulating wheel 33.
Thus, by operating the regulating wheel 33 to adjust the
combination condition of the first and the second bevel gear 30,
31, the actuating member 32 can be changed in position angles for
altering ball pitching speed, enabling a user to self-adjust ball
pitching time according to practical needs.
The actuating member 32 is snail-shaped and formed with a
comparatively long protruding-out portion 322 and a circular
portion 323, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. A driving rod 34 is
positioned under the actuating member 32 and provided with a
fulcrum 340 to produce function of a seesaw, and a retaining post
35 positioned at one side of the driving rod 34 is received in the
upright groove 215 of the right shell 21, having its topside
assembled with an elastic member 350 and one side cut with a notch
351 for the driving rod 34 to be extended therein. Referring to
FIGS. 5 and 6, ordinarily, the end 341 of the driving rod 34 is
turned up to actuate the retaining post 35 to move up and keep away
from the retaining groove 142 of the movable member 14, enabling
the movable member 14 to move freely. But, when the spring-shaped
elastic member 22 is wound tight, the gear unit can be rotated
reversely, and the circular portion 323 of the actuating member 32
will touch the driving rod 34 and meanwhile the elastic member 350
at the topside of the retaining post 35 will elastically press the
retaining post 35 to move downward and keep the driving rod 34 in a
horizontal condition, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, letting the
retaining post 35 engaged in the retaining groove 142 of the
movable member 14 and fixing the movable member 14 in position to
form a preconditioning state for pitching balls. On the contrary,
when the spring-shaped elastic member 22 begins releasing torsion
to a certain extent, the gear unit will be driven to rotate in
positive direction and the protruding-out portion 322 of the
actuating member 32 will be actuated to largely press the driving
rod 34 to let the end 341 of the driving rod 34 turn up to drive
the retaining post 35 to move upward and keep away from the
retaining groove 142 of the movable member 14 to let the movable
member 14 drawn back by the elastic member 15 to push the hooking
member 16 to turn over and release the elastic plate 54 for
pitching balls.
The power unit 5 of the ball pitching apparatus 2 is provided with
an actuating rod 50, two connecting rods 51, a pedal 52, a press
rod 53 and an elastic plate 54. The actuating rod 50 is inserted
through one end of the connecting rods 51 and extended in the slot
40 of the upper cover 4 to produce support effect and then inserted
through the slot 28 of the ball-pitching apparatus 2 and the insert
hole 233 of the rack 232. The connecting rods 51 respectively have
another end pivotally assembled on the shaft rods 520 of the pedal
52 and fixed with the first holes 521 of the pedal 52. The press
rod 53 is inserted through two second holes 522 of the pedal 52 and
two opposite sides of the curved slots 41 of the upper cover 4 to
be positioned between two shanks 523 at the rear side of the pedal
52 and received inside the upper cover 4, letting the pedal 52
fixed at a front upper side of the upper cover 4. The two shanks
523 of the pedal 52 are provided with a pivot 524 fixed thereon
with plural torsional spring 525. The pivot 524 is inserted through
two holes 526 of the two shanks 523 and two side holes 42 of the
upper cover 4 and through the insert hole 29 of the ball-pitching
apparatus 2 to enable the pedal 52 to produce pedaling effect. The
elastic plate 54 has one end secured at the upper side of both a
foundation base 540 and a regulating block 541, and a long bolt 542
is screwed between the foundation base 540 and the regulating block
541 for adjusting the position of the regulating block 541 in order
to change the elastic force of the elastic plate 54 for changing
ball pitching velocity and height.
The upper cover 4 to be covered on the ball-pitching apparatus 2 is
bored with an elongate hole 40 and a curved slot 41 respectively in
two opposite sides and has an upper side provided with a
ball-pitching opening 43 for placing practice balls 6.
In using and operating, after the practice balls 6 are put in the
ball-pitching opening 43 of the upper cover 43 and a batter treads
upon the pedal 52 of the power unit 5, the actuating rod 50 will
actuate the rack 232 of the gear unit to move to one side and drive
the gear unit to rotate and wind tight the spring-shaped elastic
member 22. Simultaneously, the movable member 14 will be moved and
positioned in place, and the retaining post 35 will be moved down
to be engaged in the retaining groove 142 of the movable member 14,
making the elastic plate 54 held by the hooking member 16 and
letting the batter have time to adjust his standing positions and
batting postures. At this time, according to a set condition, the
spring-shaped elastic member 22 will gradually release torsion to
make the gear unit rotate reversely to make the actuating member 32
of the ball pitching speed adjusting device 3 release the retaining
post 35 to let the movable member 14 quickly recover its original
position and have its push surface 143 pushing the hooking member
16 to turn over and release the elastic plate 54 to enable the
elastic plate 54 to quickly recover its original position and
elastically pitch balls out for a batter to bat, as shown in FIG.
9.
Referring to FIGS. 10-14, the baseball batting practice equipment
of this invention is additionally provided with a ball supply
device 7 having a ball placing-conveying chute 70 with an inward
recessing and arcuate shape to match with the shape of baseballs.
The ball placing-conveying chute 70 is bored with a plurality of
holes 71 for lowering the speed of downward-sliding baseballs and
has its end disposed with a Y-shaped stop member 72 pivotally
assembled with the ball placing-conveying chute 70 to form a seesaw
condition, letting the upper end 720 of the stop member 72 function
to stop a practice ball 6 from moving forward, the lower end 721
positioned on the pedal 52 and the inner end 722 set under the
practice ball 6, as shown in FIG. 12. Thus, after a user treads
upon the pedal 52 to let one practice ball 6 get into the ball
pitching hole 43, the inner end 722 of the stop member 72 will be
actuated to rise up by the weight of the lower end 721 and stop a
next practice ball 6 from proceeding continuously, as shown in
FIGS. 13 and 14. Moreover, the length of the ball placing-conveying
chute 70 is decided in accordance with the number of practice balls
6 placed thereon at one time. FIG. 10 shows that the ball
placing-conveying chute 70 consists of a first member 700 and a
second member 701 to be combined together. The first member 700 has
one end provided with a combining member 702 while the second
member 701 has one end disposed with a combining recess 703 to be
combined together with the combining member 702, thus able to
lengthen the ball placing-conveying chute 70. In addition, the
first member 700 has a lower side bored with a horizontal shaft
hole 704 and a standing holder 73 has its opposite upper ends
respectively bored with a shaft hole 730, with two pivots 74
respectively inserted in the two shaft holes 730 and the shaft hole
704 to pivotally combine the first member 700 together with the
standing holder 73, thus keep the ball placing-conveying chute 70
inclined to let practice balls 6 move forward automatically and
hence enable a user to practice batting continually.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described
above, it will be recognized and understood that various
modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are
intended to cover all such modifications that may fall within the
spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *